There's More Than One Type of Skid

Why, oh why do driving instructors from all disciplines think there is only one type of skid?

Driver training in the 21st Century is getting very interesting. After 35 years of practical driver training experience at a number of different levels I think things are going backward. No pun intended!

Why do agencies (you know who you are) buy a very expensive and most cleverly designed piece of equipment and use it to only skid sideways, or even worse, play games with the students by pushing buttons and unexpectedly relieving grip to make them go out of control? I subscribe to throwing tasks at the driver, but let’s make sure it’s meaningful. I have seen and heard way too many stories of the driver never being held accountable for the slide because of the “show”. We have found (and so do most SKIDCAR users) that the student is highly qualified to make his or her own mistakes without any help… Thank you very much.

Back to this over steer, over react, over use, rear wheel slide-skid. Personally, I think it is focused on because it creates the most bang for the buck (in entertainment value). It’s fun to slide, easy to teach correction if you have enough room, and did I say it’s fun? In fact, there is a whole motorsport dedicated to just this: sliding sideways!

But mainly neglected is the fact that front-wheel skids are often the cause of a rear-wheel reaction. They are more difficult to recover from, and ultimately deadlier. Plus, the technology of ESC is about to change the game by removing the likelihood of rear-wheel skids, and leaving you with only the one that no one wants to talk about. Are you ready for that? Are your students? Don’t your public service officials deserve better?

I’d like to hear what you think.

Dane